Joseph booth



No. 609,730. Patented Aug. 23, I898. J. BOOTH.

APPARATUS FOR SHUFFLING CARDS.

(Application filed Nov. 5, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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NlTED STATES] n-TE-NT Fries.

JOSEPH BOOTH, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR SHUFFLING CARDS;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,730, dated August23; 1898.

Application filed November 5, 1897- Serial No. 657,530. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BOOTH, of New York, (Brooklyn,) in the countyof Kings and State of New'York, have invented a new and ImprovedApparatusfor ShuftlingCards, of which the following is a specification.

I have devised an apparatus for shuffiing playing-cards automaticallyand filed an application for Letters Patent therefor, Serial No.(501,800. In such apparatus the pack of cards to be shuttled is placedvertically in the mouth of the casing containing the operative mechanismand allowed to fall through guide passages or chutes upon a series ofhorizontal1y-movable supports in the nature of tapered fingers,whichbeing retracted the cards fall off therefrom into a receptacle below,whereby they become intermixed. My present invention is an importantimprovement in the form and construction of such card supports orfingers, whereby the shuffling or intermixing of cards is performed muchmore reliably and thoroughly.

The details of construction, arrangement, and operation are ashereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved apparatus. Fig.2 is another vertical section of the upper portion of the apparatus, butin a plane at right angles to the first. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionon line 3 3 of Fig. 4.. Fig. A is a vertical section of the upperportion of the apparatus, cards being shown deposited therein andresting on the movable supports or fingers. Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof my improved card-supporting fingers.

The body A of the apparatus (see Fig. 1) is a vertical casing,preferably constructed of thin sheet metal, and has a duly ornamentalcontour. The cards .to be shuflied are introduced through the narrow topa of this casing and delivered to the interior shuffling mechanismproper, which in turn delivers them shuffled into a cavity 19, Fig. 1,in the bottom portion or base of the casing, whence they may be removedmanually.

The upper portion of the casing A is provided interiorly with verticalguideways for cards, the same being formed by narrow strips orpartitions c c, which are attachedpreferably soldered-to and extendlengthwise of two diametrically opposite side walls dfl.

The shufiiing mechanism proper is located below the card-guideways thusformed, and consists of a slidable device Band springgear 0 for movingit in one direction. The principal portion of said deviceB (see Fig. 2)is a horizontal bar a, having a series of rigid tapered or pointedfingers f, by which the cards are divided and separated, as hereinafterdescribed.

A rack-bar g projects from one end of bar 6 and meshes with a pinion h,keyed on the motor-shaft of the spring-gear or. clockwork (1-, that isaffixed to one side of the casing A. The rack-bar g is held in suchengagement by a slotted guide 2'.

A rod j is also attached to the bar 6 and works in a guide-tube 71",,fixed in the casing, which tube 70 has a disk Z on its outer end, andthe outer end of the rod j is provided with a disk or button Z tofacilitate operating it.

So far as described the invention is similar to that constituting thesubject of my aforesaid application for Letters Patent.

The present improvement relates to the card supports or fingers f, whoseconstruction and operation are asfollows: They are symmetrically taperedandfattached to the nar row strip e, having rounded notches in its upperedge n, as in' my former invention. They are inclined slightly downwardfrom base to point and have a fiat plane or bottom and vertical sideflanges whose upper edges are serrated or toothed. These are their chiefnovel features or characteristics.

The operation is as follows: When the fingers are pushed in, asshown'inFigs. 3 and 4, the cards to be shuffled are introduced and, beingdivided into groups by the guides 0, descend through the severalpassages or chutes until arrested by the strip e, inwhose con cavitiesor notches they temporarily rest. Then, the separator being released,the spring causes automatic retraction of the same, whereby the cards a:slide, first, off from the strip upon the adjacent fingers, whence theyare successively discharged. The rounded corners of the cards alone comeinto contact with and rest on the flat bottoms of the fingers, and hencethere can be but little friction in their further sliding movement.Furthermore, all the cards being supported evenly or in the same plane,none projecting above another, and being also restrained by the lateralserrated flanges, they do not fall ofi on oppo-. site sides of thefingers irregularly, or by twos and threes, and so on, as in my originalapplication, but one by one, in regular succession, so that they aredelivered well inter mixed or shuffled in the receptacle at the base ofthe apparatus.

In further explanation of the operation I will state that as the fingersare slowly retracted the cards have, necessarily, a slo w downwardmovement on the smooth inclined planes of the fingers, and as thefinely-serthe flange-teeth and slide thereon until they become clear ofthe same, when, beingno longer supported, they fall off the sides of the1 fingers. So in regular succession the outside cards of each groupsupported by a particular finger fall off the latter at its sides, beingthus automatically picked oi, as it were, as

surely as could be done by a dealer manually. Thus by a simple buthighly efficient device cards may be shuffled more thoroughly than isusually done in shuffling by hand.

What I claim is 1. In an apparatus for shuffling playingcards, ahorizontally-movable device and a card-supporting finger which istapered and inclined from base to point,.and provided with a fiatbottom, substantially as and for the purpose stated.

2. In an apparatus for shuffling playingcards, a horizontally-movabledevice and a card-supporting finger which is attached thereto and madetapered and provided with toothed side flanges, substantially as shownand described.

3. In an apparatus for shufiling playingcards, a horizontally-movabledevice and a card-supporting finger attached thereto, the same beingtapered, and inclined downward from base to point, and having a flatbottom and toothed side flanges, substantially as shown and described.

4. In an apparatus for shufiiing playing-- cards, a horizontally-movabledevice and a card-supporting finger attached thereto, the same beingtapered, and inclined downward from base to point, and having a flatbottom, and narrow upright flanges extending along the sides,substantially as described.

5. As an improved art of manufacture, the card-separating devicecomposed of a vertical base-strip, and one or more fingers which aretapered, inclined, and have a Hat bottom, and toothed. upright flangesat the edges of the bottom, substantially as described.

JOSEPH BOOTH.

Witnesses: q

- ARTHUR COPELAND GOODYER,

ALLAN STA-RR BOOTH.

